


Life Isn't A Movie

by xikra1648



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Peter Doesn't Deserve This, Post Avengers: Infinity War, Romance, Teen Romance, Unrequited Love, yet here we are
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 10:39:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16239938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xikra1648/pseuds/xikra1648
Summary: Sometimes you and Peter couldn't help but think your lives were movies.  You'd even sat down and compared your lives to the usual superhero movie pattern, and found some disturbingly similar patterns.If only you'd been able to recognize that your lives would be more like a bad teen romance interrupted by moments of potentially life-ending danger.





	Life Isn't A Movie

**Author's Note:**

> Why do I keep writing this angst for Peter? I mean I just did a similar thing to him in Roses, happy ending or not it still started out angsty and I hurt the poor baby. Now that Roses is officially over, I’m doing the same thing all over again.
> 
> My writer’s urge to hurt the characters I write with, even when they’re not mine, is the reason I’m burning in the deepest pits of hell.

# Life Isn't A Movie

### Disgustingly Cliche

 

Your life had always been disgustingly cliché in the worst ways.

Falling for your best friend had been cliché.  His inability to return your feelings was cliché.  The fact that you told him even though you _knew_ he didn’t feel the same was cliché.  Your string of bad boyfriends in a desperate attempt to get over Peter was cliché.  The ache you felt in your heart when you saw him with another girl or heard him excitedly talking about a date was cliché.  The way you put a grin on your face and acted okay was cliché.

The only thing that _wasn’t_ cliché was the fact you were, eventually, able to actually _move on._   In every cliché scenario you were supposed to keep pining until he felt the same or you _died_ , but you’d just… _moved on._   Part of you had been scared that somebody had scripted your life, simply because your life was so disgustingly cliché down to the fact your dead father developed the serum that turned you into a super soldier to save your life, and then you turned around and used your abilities to get revenge on the men that killed him but decided to turn them into the authorities instead of killing them like you originally planned. 

It was so disgustingly cliché.

Why couldn’t this happen earlier?  Why couldn’t this happen back when you liked him?  Why did he have to fall after you got over him?  No…no he fell for you years ago, he was just too stupid to realize it.  Yet another cliché to add to the already irritating situation.  He even asked Dr. Strange if karma was an actual thing.  He probably should have gone right to Tony, as the former hero would have more advice to give, but Tony was literally in the middle of his honeymoon with Pepper.  As much as Peter would have liked his mentor's advice, he didn't want to interrupt anything.  Besides...he could work through this...even if it meant honestly answering Dr. Strange when he asked Peter just _why_ he suddenly wondered about karma.

“That’s…not how karma works,” Dr. Strange carefully formed the tone of his response, trying to keep his usually snarky demeanor to a minimum, even though he couldn’t help but point out, “That’s how a _bad_ teenage rom-com works, but definitely not karma.”

“ _Thanks_ ,” Peter snapped, clearly not meaning the word as he yanked on his Spider-Man mask and added, with the same sarcastic tone he used when he talked to himself after doing something particularly stupid, “ _That’s exactly what I needed.”_

The sound of the front door to the New York Sanctum slamming shut echoed throughout the building on Bleeker street, and Stephen Strange couldn’t help but nod and admit to himself, “Yeah, I had that coming.”

Peter was starting to get desperate, finding MJ and Ned in the cafeteria before you got there.  Senior year was already chaotic enough with out this bullshit crash landing into Peter’s life, but Ned and MJ had to have a solution for him.  He had to get there and talk to them before you got there.  He had a little extra time because you promised Betty you’d help plan Prom, which was coming up in a few months.  It was about four months away, actually, but between the budget, catering, venue, decorations, DJ, tickets, and voting for King and Queen there was a lot to do.

“Guys, I need your help,” Peter practically slid into his seat, barely keeping himself from sprinting across the cafeteria to meet up with his friends, “I have feelings for [Y/N], like daydreaming, gazing at her across the room, wanna listen to Adele cause she’s got a date on Saturday feelings.”

“Hell, I could have told you that,” MJ deadpanned without even looking up from her book, flipping the page before grabbing a fry off Ned’s tray.

“You _knew?”_

“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious,” Ned explained, quickly jumping in to defend himself and MJ by adding, “We thought you knew though!  Like I totally thought you told her you wanted to stay friends cause you’re…you know, partners in the field and it would complicate things.”

Peter groaned, barely stopping himself from slamming his forehead onto the table because his own tray of food was in the way and the last thing he needed was mashed potatoes getting in his eyes and hair.

Add another thing to the list of cliché bullshit he shouldn’t have to deal with because he just had to choose between getting shot or hit by a truck _two days ago._   The wound was healed, but his shoulder still ached and explaining that scar to anyone who didn’t know he was Spider-Man was going to take some doing.  _That’s not the point!_   The point was his life was already chaotic enough, and this was the absolute _last_ thing he needed.

“Obviously I _didn’t know!”_ Peter snapped, it wasn’t fair to take it out on Ned and MJ, but this was just adding to the whole problem.  The fact that MJ just shot out one fact that proved he _should have known_ without even looking up from her book only made things worse.

“You got her a charm bracelet for her birthday.”

“That doesn’t…I…” Peter’s irritated face turned to one of panic as he realized he had no argument for MJ’s evidence before he accepted his fate with a pained, _“Shut up.”_

“Dude, you _gotta_ tell her.”  Ned firmly believed that, he really did.  Even if you said no, he thought it would be best to get these feelings out in the open.  It was one thing to hide a crush from someone you were barely friends with, like someone you only talked to during Decathlon practice and meets, but hiding something like this from your best friend could end badly.

“And say _what?_ ” Peter deadpanned before reciting what had to be the worst way to phrase things, but did, ultimately, prove his point, “Hey, I know I broke your heart in Sophomore year and you did the healthy thing and moved on, but I like you so have fun feeling guilty about breaking my heart instead of sacrificing your own happiness to pine over me until you die just in case I change my mind.”

 _That_ got MJ to look up from her book, and had Ned’s brow furrowed as the exact situation and all its details came crashing down around them.

“Yeah…it sounds pretty bad when you put it like that.”  Ned had to admit that it was a disaster.  This was a massive disaster.  Like, bigger than Ross cheated on Rachel and argued that they were _on a break_ so he didn’t actually cheat.  This was definitely a problem, but –

“You might not wanna look behind you Parker.”

Peter knew better than to look, but every time MJ said that he looked.  To be fair, Ned did the same thing, but Peter really should have known better, because now he got an eyeful of you _in his black and white plaid shirt._   Last Peter saw you, there was nothing layered over the black off-the-shoulder t-shirt you’d matched with your ripped skinny jeans.  You stepped lightly in your black low tops, years of training with Natasha helping you move around the crowded room with ease.

“So, apparently my shoulders are _distracting_ _the boys_ ,” you angrily explained your change in attire as you placed your tray onto the table and sat down, “I can’t wait until Principal Morita gets back from vacation, because dealing with that temporary Principal she-witch was getting exhausting.  Who would have thought the _male_ principal was the one who stood up for gender equality in the school and teaching teenage boys not to be pervs that objectify women?

“Ugh, a woman fighting for misogyny, I wish I hadn’t seen that before,” MJ groaned as she handed you the book she’d borrowed from you.  To her defense, when she told Peter not to look behind him, she didn’t know the plaid shirt you were wearing was his.

“Is that my shirt?”  Peter had to ask the question, barely keeping his voice level as he asked the question.  Why were you wearing his shirt?  No, he knew _why_ , the old woman that was acting as the principal was a bitch, but how did you end up with a shirt he’d been looking for over the last three weeks?

“Oh, yeah.  Last time we crashed at your place after patrol, Aunt May grabbed it from the wash for me to wear,” you explained, briefly looking down at the shirt as you recalled how it came to find a temporary home in your locker before looking up to Peter to finish the story, “I washed it and brought it to school to give it back to you, but then there was the temporary lockdown cause Scorpion was in the area and I totally forgot about it until today.  I can give it back to you after – “

“No, no, keep it…”  The shock at seeing you in his shirt faded, as the realization that letting you have his shirt was as close to being with you as he was going to get.  You looked comfortable in it, and if keeping it would keep you from getting detention than giving it up was more than worth it.

That was when it clicked.

He couldn’t tell you, he couldn’t burden you with this.  He’d swallow his feelings and just let you be happy.  He had no right to expect you to drop everything for him just because you _used to_ have feelings for him, and if you got over your feelings after he broke your heart, he could do the same.  Maybe this wasn’t how karma worked, but it damn sure felt like it.  He couldn’t help but entertain the thought that hung in the back of his head that it was only fair.  All he could do was watch in a daze, muffled voices surrounding him as you excitedly talked about something you discovered as you fiddled around with the tools you used in the field, your eyes lined by your black wide-frame glasses and hair tied back into a messy bun as you shared your recent discovery.  You stopped when a large hand tapped your shoulder, and looked up to see the quarterback you had a date with that Saturday had come over to ask if you were free to study over lunch.  Peter vaguely registered you asking him, Ned, and MJ if it was okay if you went, and Peter barely had his mind together enough to tell you it was perfectly fine.

He waved in the affirmative as you turned around, walking away with your date, and told Peter you’d meet him at the usual spot after school.  Then you turned around, and his face fell as his heart clenched, all because he was watching you walk away.  Ned and MJ watched silently, concern evident in their faces as it became clear just how far Peter had fallen.  Just because he was unaware didn’t mean he hadn’t fallen head over heels for you.  It just meant that, the second he realized it, it was going to hurt all that much more when he came to the selfless decision MJ knew was coming the second this lunchtime conversation started.

“I’m not gonna tell her.”

It was all so disgustingly cliché.


End file.
